Dear Buffalo Wild Wings: Jesus and Chicken Wings Don’t Mix

By On June 21, 2010 · 17 Comments

I have surprisingly fond memories of the OSU campus BW3 restaurants from the early 90s. They weren’t much to look at but I spent many, many hours of my college career chugging happy hour beer and eating amazing ten cent wings at both the north and south campus BW3 locations.

More importantly, I continue to frequent the new-fangled, family friendly Buffalo Wild Wing restaurants now that I’m old.

This itself is quite surprising since I almost never eat fast food anymore.

I actually went well out of my way to stop at a Buffalo Wild Wings restaurant in the middle of rural Ohio recently on a drive back from Cleveland. The service was way better than I could possibly have hoped for and the food was exactly what I expected (in a good way).

If you asked me yesterday what it would take to turn me against Buffalo Wild Wings I would have answered “a hell of a lot”. We have a long past together and I’m a pretty loyal guy.

But that was yesterday.

The news I received today might turn out to be just the thing that destroys my relationship BW3 forever.

A month or so ago I was joking that BW3 (aka Buffalo Wild Wings) was taking sides in the culture war because some wing nutty Republican whose name I have since forgotten was holding a fund raising event at one of their rural Ohio restaurants.

It turns out I might have been on to something. And this fact depresses the fuck out of me.

Watching local news tonight I just discovered that former OSU football player and anti-choice activist Chris Spielman’s Grid Iron Classic is being sponsored by Buffalo Wild Wings. And the money they are raising is primarily going to “The Fellowship of Christian Athletes”.

If you haven’t heard of the FCA, this is their mission statement:

To present to athletes and coaches and all whom they influence the challenge and adventure of receiving Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord, serving Him in their relationships and in the fellowship of the church.

In short: teaching coaches to teach Jesus to the athletes they coach.

Wow…. what could POSSIBLY go wrong with that?

Here’s my advice to Buffalo Wild Wings: stay the hell away from religion and politics and focus on making great chicken wings. You are going to lose more fans/customers than you gain by choosing one god/prophet/savior/religion over another.

In other words:

Sports + Chicken = Good Times and Corporate Success

Sports + Chicken + Jesus = Disaster

Evangelize!
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  • mvirenicus

    Maybe someone should have explained all this to St. Woody Hayes decades ago.

  • freeandeasy

    wild leaps and stupid assumptions such as yours are a prime example of why republicans say Democrats are godless.

  • modernesquire

    I think it's a jump to say an organization that promotes Christian fellowship among athletes is a plot to indoctrinate our youths with Christian teachings.

    This is the kind of nonsense the right uses in attacking groups like GLSTN.

  • mvirenicus

    To present to athletes and coaches and *all whom they influence* the challenge and adventure of receiving Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord

  • anastasjoy

    Modern, if the organization were merely about “fellowship” BETWEEN athletes who might be Christians or even about Christian-style but nonsectarian fellowship among ALL athletes, that would be fine. But t his group is a specifically, aggressively and intrusively evangelical group with many, many ties to the religious far right. This is not an innocent group with open arms for all, but one more analogous to the Christian Coalition, the Moral Majority or Focus on the Family.

    How about this:
    The FCA Vision
    To see the world impacted for Jesus Christ through the influence of athletes and coaches.

  • http://www.thevab.blogspot.com Value Added

    OK. You don’t like Christians. Or athletes. Or Christian-Athletes. Or whatever.

    What’s the point of this?

  • http://www.thevab.blogspot.com Value Added

    I just read the post again, to see if I missed something. You ask, “What could POSSIBLY go wrong with that?”

    Seriously, what’s wrong with people expressing their religious views? It’s not like people are forced to attend. Silly post.

  • http://plunderbund.com Joseph

    It's a little different, Modern. Actually, a lot different.

    The FCA is a religious organization that “uses the influence of coaches and athletes as a means of Christian evangelism.”

    As far as I know the GLSTN isn't using volleyball coaches to actively recruit new lesbians.

  • mvirenicus

    yes they are. just by breathing the same air as our impressionable young people gays and lesbians are able to recruit countless hordes to their unnatural and sinful ways. glory!

  • seditious

    A public school coach is an agent of the government. Do you really want the government sponsored evangelism?

    Fundamentalists like Spielman would go ballistic if a coach was trying to convert their kid to Islam or Buddhism or atheism.

  • tudorman

    Seems to me your beef ought to be with (public school) coaches for attending, not with BW3 for sponsoring or hosting.

  • modernesquire

    One person's “raising public awareness” is another person's “indoctrination.”
    GLSTN's stated goals are “advocating change in the society at large with regard to homophobia and heterosexism, working to influence local, state,
    and national leaders.”

    I think this is a comfort level thing. I support GLSTN but I also support the right of Christian athletes to promote their believes as well, too.

    Both organizations are dedicated to promoting their beliefs at schools. Both are considered rather contraversial in different political circles.

    As far as you know? Heh. :)

  • modernesquire

    Yeah, and Spielman would be just as wrong as the people going ballistic because someone is advocating a fellowship group because it promotes Christianity. A hypothetical wrong by the other party doesn't make you right for committing essentially the same wrong.

  • modernesquire

    I could, and did, pull a similiar quote from GLSTN's mission statement. Teaching kids to be tolerant just can't be on one side of the ideological spectrum. If you want to allow GLSTN at schools, then you have to tolerate religious organizations as well. Such organizations have never been held to violate the separation of church and state.

  • Tom Richardson

    Wow. I'm agnostic, but this is filled with more nonsensical logical leaps than two weeks worth of Glenn Beck.

  • Gooniepunk66

    Buffalo Wild Wings is a corporate restaurant. I am an employee of Buffalo Wild Wings at a state university, and I can honestly say that there is only one reason for this sponsorship, the almighty dollar. There is no thought of who, or what, or why someone is holding an event, it is just the fact that it is ADVERTISING their product to new possible BWW go-ers. Thats it. $. Welcome to corporate america people. Wake Up.

  • Brianyrex

    i’m sorry but I disagree… This shows integrity in the company and it demonstrates their interest in other people as opposed to just themselves!! AND now a days hard to find a company like that since all people care about is themselves and trying to get rich. Yet when they get there they realize it’s not as good as it sounds if you don’t have God with you in at the end… SPORTS+CHICKEN+JESUS= REVELUTION

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